SAN DIEGO — An American nun who was raised in Beverly Hills and abandoned a life of privilege to live in a notorious Mexican jail has died.

Antonia Brenner was 86.

The Eudist Servants of the 11th hour says Brenner died Thursday at the Tijuana convent she founded. Sister Anne Marie Maxfield says Brenner had been ill for a while with a weak heart and a neuromuscular condition.

After raising seven children in Southern California, she traded in a spacious home when she was 50 years old to turn attention to La Mesa State Penitentiary, where she helped quell riots. She lived at the prison, held counseling sessions and did countless small tasks on behalf of the thousands of inmates.